LMAX Digital volumes got off to a nice start this week. Total notional volume for Monday came in at $887 million, 20% above 30-day average volume.

Bitcoin volume printed $532 million on Monday, 32% above 30-day average volume. Ether volume came in at $259 million, 14% above 30-day average volume.

Looking at average position size over the past 30 days, we’re seeing average bitcoin position size at $9,431 and average position size for ether at $4,828.

Market volatility has turned back up towards multi-month high levels from March. We’re looking at average daily ranges in bitcoin and ether of $3,694 and $228 respectively.

All of the attention around the upcoming bitcoin halving event (ETA April 20) has been sucked out, with the market focused on all things global macro.

At first, it was a massive repricing in Fed expectations, with rate cut bets scaled back on account of stronger US economic data and hotter US inflation reads.

And more recently, it’s been about the tension in the Middle East, as Iran and Israel face off in a conflict that carries substantial fallout risk if things don’t get under control.

The resulting price action has seen a massive wave of US Dollar demand, which has weighed on crypto assets, along with intense downside price action in US equities, which has also weighed on crypto assets.

As far as the halving event goes, we’ve been in the camp where we don’t expect there to be much additional upside momentum on account of the fact that this is a known event that has been well telegraphed by the market.

At the same time, we do believe there is some room for a rally when considering this is the first bitcoin halving that will be playing out in front of a much wider audience, now that the bitcoin spot ETFs are up and running.

We say this because many investors who have been excited to take on some exposure to bitcoin via the ETFs, have yet to really gain a full understanding of bitcoin’s compelling value proposition.

The halving event could therefore get these investors more excited about bitcoin, as they are forced to take a deeper dive, which could then translate to the desire to take on even more exposure.

Technically speaking, as per our daily chart update, so long as bitcoin holds up above $59k, the outlook remains highly constructive, with fresh record highs on the horizon.